Recently in the news is a decision in a lawsuit regarding the potential eviction of a defrocked nun in a Russian Orthodox convent located in Nanuet, New York. This case is an interesting intersection of two areas of the law that our firm practices; namely, how the decisions of a religious…
Articles Posted in Real Estate Litigation
Bidding at a Foreclosure Auction Sale in New York – Part I
Our firm receives many inquiries from parties who intend to bid at a foreclosure sale. Foreclosure sales most often occur when a party is unable to pay a mortgage encumbering a property, and a foreclosure judgment is obtained by the lender. What happens next? A foreclosure sale, or auction, is scheduled…
Defending Cooperative Foreclosures in New York
Several of our prior blog posts have dealt with defending foreclosure actions for real property. However, in New York State, and especially in New York City, many apartments are held as shares in a cooperative corporation, also known as “coops”. Rather than owning real property, coop owners own shares in a…
What Happens to Post-Foreclosure Surplus Monies in New York?
Prior blog posts have dealt with various aspects of foreclosed properties in New York State. This post discusses the possibility of a deficiency judgment being entered against the borrower. This can occur when the value of the property is less than the amount owed by the individual who signed the note and…
Partition Actions for Cooperative Apartments
Last week’s blog post discussed legal issues relating to a foreclosure as it applies to cooperative apartments in New York State. To summarize, because cooperatives are considered shares in a corporation, and not real property, different legal procedures are necessary when an owner of a co-op defaults on her share loan…
Foreclosure and Evictions in New York Cooperatives
Many of our prior blog posts have discussed foreclosures of real property. But what happens when the owner of a cooperative or “co-op” apartment cannot pay his share loan or maintenance? Although the term “foreclosure” generally applies to the taking of real property by a lienholder, a co-op owner does not…
Mortgage Foreclosures – Bank or Private Loan?
Our firm is called upon to both defend and prosecute mortgage foreclosure actions. One of the first questions that should to be asked is who holds the mortgage loan, meaning the party who is entitled to bring the action. In most cases, it is an “institutional lender,” such as a bank…
Starting a Foreclosure Action in New York
Our firm is often retained to defend property owners whose home is in foreclosure. Most often, the entity bringing the foreclosure proceeding is a major lending institution, such as a national bank or credit union. However, there are two sides to every story. Some of our clients are individuals who have…
Reverse Mortgages: What Happens to Those Left Behind?
Prior blog posts have discussed the legal ramifications of reverse mortgages, which are becoming more common, and, with this, have become the subject of more court actions, including foreclosure cases. Reverse mortgages allow a person to borrow against the equity in their home, and are limited to those homeowners older than…
Evictions in Unconventional Situations
A recent article in the New York Post discusses a 61 year old man who had refused to move out of his Hunter College dorm room, where he had lived for the past 38 years. Obviously, this is not the ordinary landlord-tenant matter, in which a tenant has a written…